The invention pertains to devices for controlling the accumulation of crop particles on a harvesting vehicle.
In the prior art, a few pick-ups are equipped with so-called contaminant collecting screens. They retain the majority of crop particles deposited on the screw conveyor by the feed fingers or feed paddles. However, some crop particles are still deposited on the subsequent subassemblies of the chopper, e.g., airborne grass. Another disadvantage of the crop particle collecting screens can be seen in the fact that the view of the swath is significantly impaired during pick-up. It is also very difficult to protect corn attachments from light and small crop particles.
During harvest operations, crop particles are often deposited on the top of subsequent subassemblies through which the harvest is transported into the harvester or in which the harvest is processed, and accumulate at these locations. A fire may break out, for example, due to an overheated bearing or when performing a sharpening or grinding operation on the blades of the chopping drum. Consequently, the harvester needs to be cleaned frequently. Much time is lost in cleaning the machine, in particular when performing repair and maintenance procedures (e.g., during the quick-conversion of a kernel processor).
It is known to mount the rear side of a flexible protective element beneath the operator""s cab of a chopper, with its front side being attached to the crop gathering device. The sides of the protective element may be arranged on the sides of the chopper""s main frame. In the prior art, the one-piece protective element is mounted on the crop gathering device and on the chopper by means of bands. Here, it is disadvantageous that the protective element must be removed before maintenance or repair procedures can be performed on the chopping elements or on the front side of the harvester.
The problem to be solved with the present invention is that of being able to easily service a harvester equipped with a shield for preventing accumulation of crop particles on top surfaces of the harvester drive housings or the like.
According to the present invention, there is provided an improved shield arrangement for preventing the accumulation of crop particles on a harvesting machine.
An object of the invention is to provide a crop harvester having a shield arrangement for intercepting airborne crop particles before they accumulate on the harvester, the shield arrangement permitting easy servicing of the functional elements of the harvester.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide a crop harvester shield that is provided with an access element that can be opened and closed making it possible to gain access to the functional elements and/or other parts of the harvester located underneath the shield without having to first remove the entire shield.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a shield, as defined in one or more of the previous objects, wherein the shield is disposed on the harvester such that intercepted crop particles tend to gravitate off the shield so that it is in some respects self-cleaning and where cleaning may be accomplished easily by manually shaking the shield.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a shield, as set forth in the foregoing objects, having an access element in the form of a flap or cover that may be pivoted, or rolled on itself, between open and closed positions.
These and other objects will become apparent from a reading of the ensuing description together with the appended drawings.